In diesel hydroprocessing, it is sometimes beneficial to include a dewaxing stage as part of reaction train in order to improve properties of the resulting diesel fuel such as pour point or cloud point. Such improvements in cold flow properties can, for example, allow a diesel fuel to meet a desired specification for a diesel fuel pool, or the improvements can allow a diesel fuel to be suitable for a higher value use, such as use as a winter diesel fuel. While such improvements can be desirable, performing an additional dewaxing process on a diesel fuel product typically means that additional refinery resources are consumed in order to perform the process.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,377,286 describes hydroprocessing methods for diesel fuel production. The methods include options for processing diesel fuel under sour conditions, such as in the presence of 100 wppm or more of sulfur. The dewaxing catalysts used for dewaxing of the diesel fuel include catalysts with a relatively low surface area, such as catalysts with a ratio of zeolite surface area to external surface area of at least about 80:100. The dewaxing catalysts are described as having a hydrogenation metals content of at least 0.1 wt %.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0015454 describes methods for hydrodeoxygenating a renewable feed using hydrogen from an alternative hydrogen source, such as an off-gas from a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) reactor. The low hydrogen content of the FCC off-gas stream is described as still being sufficient to enable deoxygenation and/or olefin saturation.